Bernie's delicious spinach dip

Bernie's delicious spinach dip can be made in a jiffy.

To make any hearty snack, all you need to do is keep out the chemicals and refined carbs; that means no lemon juice concentrate, solvent-extracted oils or sugar.

Fresh fruit, vegetables and cold-pressed oil from the olive are the order of the day.

This page was last updated by Bernard Preston on 4th July, 2023.

So no preservatives or flavour-enhancers but just your own preferred herbs, fresh lemon juice and olive oil; and a bit of this or that. So generally make just enough for today's salad; and perhaps a little left over.

You do have a salad every day, right? Remember 5 to 10 brightly-coloured foods per day are absolutely vital if we want to minimise the chances of getting the big C; it's all about the phytonutrients.

It's the coloured fruits and veggies that have many of the phytosterols that keep the cholesterol down too; and the inorganic nitrate that protects our hearts and kidneys from major events.

Please do not assume that it's only other people who get malignant tumours. It is a horrible way to die; prevention is the name of the game. Coloured fruit and vegetables, raw or cooked, every day are a great start to reducing that risk substantially.

This very week I have treated two women in whose families there are young daughters with terminal breast cancer; it's the most common malignant tumour in females.

Then avoid as many chemicals, especially those in your food, as you can; asbestos, certain medications like post-menopausal hormones and smoking too. I watched my father die of a malignant lung tumour; it was not pretty. Fifteen precious years were lost. Bernie's delicious spinach dip contains five of those colours in just one condiment.

Lemon juice concentrate

There are few things more ugly than lemon-juice concentrate, preserved unto everlasting life; just read the label and then taste it. It's horrible.

If you have no access to fresh lemons then rather use apple-cider vinegar; it too may have sulphur dioxide as a preservative.

Freezing lemon juice is our first choice.

Every home should have a lemon in the garden. Currently in South Africa they sell for R4 each, about US 30c. I've just counted and we have over 200 hanging on our tree; and have already eaten perhaps another hundred.

So that would gross at least R1,000 worth of fruit at the retail price each year. I planted it four decades ago when we built our home; I reckon that will beat any share on the stock-exchange for a return.

• Growing lemon trees

Recipe for spinach dip

Frankly it is different every time I make it; it is such fun to try a bit of this one day, or that on another. I never follow recipes strictly after the first few attempts.

It is so boring. Like living life in a box, confined, trapped and limited by Bernie's spinach dip recipes. Sometimes I might throw in a radish, half a peach or a sprig of green coriander, for example.

Bernie's delicious spinach dip

Bernie's delicious spinach dip says now just watch all the salad get eaten; less calcium deposition in your arteries and joints too.

One of the carotenoids inhibits the rapid digestion of starch in the small intestine which is vital for those who are insulin resistant; nearly half of the population.

What is raw honey? You have to find a small local apiarist or perhaps even learn how to start beekeeping; my life-long fascinating hobby.

Whilst the African bee is very dangerous, mostly its European and American cousins are relatively tame, and you will be making one small contribution to sustaining the environment. Sigh, what kind of a world are we leaving to our grandchildren?

How to grow spinach

You do have a spinach patch, right? After radishes, it is the easiest veg in the world to grow. A 3' square spot in the tiniest garden will keep you going right through the summer and mild winters.

A stick-blender is one of the essential bits of equipment for the kitchen. I like it because it's so easy to clean compared with the big appliances.

This Chimichurri sauce for preserving parsley is a very similar condiment that will add to any salad or stew.

How to make spinach dip

One of the joys of making your own dips and condiments from scratch is that they have none of the toxic chemicals that the food industry adds. Healthline for example states that the common stabilizer pyrophosphate causes bloating and abdominal pain.

But it does mean that your spinach dip may separate, give it a good shake, and finish it within a few days.

• What is stabilizer in food?
  

Nephropathy

After a heart attack, a common test using contrast gives significant risk of nephropathy. A five-day course of inorganic nitrate gives 70% protection in renal function lasting up to 3 months compared to a placebo; with half the likelihood of major CV and kidney events at 1 year.

The inorganic nitrate alone from Bernie's delicious spinach dip is a good enough reason to enjoy it regularly.

Bernie's simple spinach lasagna

Pasta is generally made from all-purpose flour; all the bran, essential fatty acids and important phytonutrients have been extracted^[5].

When you make the decision to use only wholegrain flour everything about baking must change. It's not simple but the benefits are stupendous; far less likely to get malignant breast tumours or suffer from a catastrophic cardiovascular event.

Keep your spinach lasagna simple is my recommendation; so many recipes are tiresome and time-consuming. Use wholemeal bread instead of pasta; the taste of this creamy delicious meal is so superior to any commercial dish. Prepare it from start to finish in less than an hour.

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Lutein benefit

Lutein benefit in an important subject for every single person, especially for smokers. Together with zeaxanthin, these carotenoids protect both the retina and the lens from the damage done by high-energy light radiation.

A deficiency is likely to bring about lutein macular degeneration, an irreversible cause of blindness in the older person; and cataracts too.

The richest sources are your greens; enjoy Bernie's delicious spinach dip regularly, kale and broccoli at least once a week. Add to that corn on the cob in season and you have adequate protection against blindness from macular degeneration and cataracts.

Zeaxanthin macular degeneration

Zeaxanthin macular degeneration reminds me of the tragedy of five million Americans who have unwittingly settled for going blind rather than eat their coloured foods; and plenty of South Africans too, only the research has been done in the USA. Then add double that number who are partially sighted.

Zeaxanthin is a potent antioxidant found almost exclusively in the cones in the macula of the eye; that is the region where colour and fine discrimination are detected.

It functions together with a twin brother called lutein in protecting the cones in the retina from damaging high-energy ionising radiation.

Both zeaxanthin and lutein are found in rich amounts in Bernie's delicious spinach dip. Let your food be your medicine, said Hippocrates. Add a mealie a day in summer and stone-ground grits for the rest of the year; now you have almost complete protection against AMD.

Another of the carotenoids is beta-cryptoxanthin that is also found in dark green leafy vegetables like spinach; a first cousin to lutein and zeaxanthin. It has scientifically proven properties of preventing dementia^[4]. Large amounts are also located in citrus.

Bernie's nutritious spinach dip is rich in these phytonutrients that will carry us into strong and zestful old age.

Being a blood donor is a challenge to the body; large amounts of iron from our food is vital. I find it interesting that despite eating meat only occasionally, the levels of this important mineral are always high; enjoying spinach and kale is one of the reasons. Absorption is greatly increased by the beta-carotenes and vitamin C in Bernie's delicious spinach dip.

It's a time to sow; spinach, kale and lemons should top the list in every garden.

Chemicals in food

If you were to buy a condiment like this in the supermarket, you can be sure that food scientists would have added preservatives, antioxidants and flavour enhancers. Once they have manufactured it in a factory, bottled the sauce and it has been some months on the shelf, you can be sure it will not taste a patch as good as Bernie's delicious spinach dip.

Make just enough for a couple meals; it does not keep, of course. In short, taking good care of ourselves and our possessions need not be such a chore.

These are my 10 top anti-inflammatory foods; they include kale and spinach for obvious reasons.

A PROMISE

I know it is dumb to make promises like this but if you make Bernie's delicious spinach dip, I can give you a reasonable assurance that all the kids, even dad, will finish their salad; and come back for more. Even my grandchildren, aged four and two, comply; with no coercion.

• What's potting in the garden?

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Create a Cyan Zone at your home; one which complements blue areas for longevity with green for protecting Mother Earth.